N990 Medium Thermal

Carbon Black in
Polychloroprene Rubber
042
October 1, 2008











THERMAX

MEDIUM THERMAL CARBON BLACK N990

IN POLYCHLOROPRENE RUBBER (CR)

Thermax

medium thermal carbon black N990 (MT black) is a unique carbon black
characterized by large particle size (low surface area) and low structure. Manufactured by the
thermal decomposition of natural gas, Thermax

is widely used in applications that require

excellent heat, oil and chemical resistance, as well as superior dynamic properties. The large
particle size and low structure provide compounds with low compression set, high rebound
and low hysteresis as the inherent elastic properties of the polymer are maintained.
Thermax

can be used in all polymers and is commonly used in elastomers such as FKM, CR,
NR, IIR, NBR, EPDM, HNBR, ACM and ECO.

Thermal black is non-reinforcing and is often blended with furnace carbon blacks and/or
mineral fillers to achieve cost reduction and specific physical properties in a rubber compound.
Polychloroprene is strain crystallizing and similar to natural rubber in chemical structure and
tensile strength. This similarity to natural rubber extends to the processing and vulcanization
properties of Polychloroprene as far as the effect of carbon black is concerned. Thermax can
be loaded in polychloroprene vulcanizates in greater amounts than reinforcing fillers for a
given hardness while still retaining the good tensile properties. This high loading ability
translates directly to cost savings for the compound.

The following study, conducted on behalf of Cancarb Limited by the Indian Rubber
Manufacturers Research Association, Thane, India, shows the effect of replacing FEF black
N550 with Thermax

N990 in the following CR compounds of three different shore A

hardnesses (50, 60 and 70).

Compound Recipes

Hardness 50 SH Hardness 60 SH Hardness 70 SH
Formulation (phr)
A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
CR - Skyprene B-30 100 100 100 100 100 100
MgO 4 4 4 4 4 4
Thermax

N990 - 40 - 20 - 40
FEF N550 20 - 40 30 60 40
Stearic Acid 1 1 1 1 1 1
Aromatic Oil 15 15 15 15 15 15
ZnO 5 5 5 5 5 5
NA 22 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5
Antioxidant TDQ 1 1 1 1 1 1
Total 146.5 166.5 166.5 171.5 186.5 206.5



CR Test Compound Properties

COMPOUND A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2
Viscosity
M
L
(1+4) @ 100C (MU)
19.0 24.0 38.5 38.0 60.0 58.0
Mooney Scorch Time
t5 @ 125 C(min)
6.00 5.10 4.70 4.80 4.00 3.90

Rheometric properties @ 160 C
M
L
(lbf.inch) 3.80 4.14 5.60 5.45 8.44 8.33
M
H
(lbf.inch) 51.00 55.60 66.60 66.55 78.10 79.16
t
S
2(min) 2.00 1.91 1.64 1.66 1.52 1.53
t90(min) 20.00 17.60 30.90 25.50 35.85 34.56

Vulcanizate properties
Hardness - On Button (Shore
A)
48 50 59 60 69 69
300% modulus (Kg/cm
2
) 25 52 144 145 n/a n/a
Tensile Strength (Kg/cm
2
) 150 162 186 187 183 176
EB % 615 550 365 360 255 250
Tear Strength (Kg/cm) 23 26 35 35 39 33
Compression Set %
(ASTM D 395, Method B, 22
hrs/100C/25% deflection)
11 14 10 11 8 9

% Change in physical properties after air aging @ 100C for 70 hours.
Hardness Change (points) +1 +1 +3 +2 +2 +3
300% Modulus (change) +16 +27 +10.5 +16.5 n/a n/a
Tensile Strength (change) +2 -0/5 -0.5 Nil +1 +1
EB (change) -7 -7 -8 -7 -10 -8

% Change in physical properties after aging @ 100 C for 70 hours in ASTM oil No.1
Volume Swell (70hrs/100C) +3.6 +3.8 +2.6 +2.7 +2.5 +2.1

After complete replacement of the N550 FEF black with Thermax

N990, the 50 Shore A

hardness compound maintained excellent tensile and tear strength. Volume Swell in ASTM oil
#1, compression set and air aging properties all remain at satisfactory levels. However, a
slight increase in compound viscosity and small drop in elongation at break are observed.

In the higher hardness compounds, 60 and 70 Shore A, the FEF N550 black was replaced by
Thermax

N990 in a 1:2 proportion without any significant change in both the vulcanized and
un-vulcanized properties.


The Thermax

Advantage

With the persistent availability problems and increasing cost of Polychloroprene polymer,
maintaining compound cost while preserving the desired properties is a major problem.
Thermax

N990, thermal carbon black is an excellent solution to this problem. Thermax

N990
allows for a higher proportion of carbon black to be loaded into the compound which produces a
higher volume of compound without consuming more of the expensive polymer. The achievable
cost savings will depend upon the specific recipe in use and the local raw material costs.

Further reduction in compound cost can be realized with some loss of stress-strain properties
by replacing the FEF black with Thermax

MT black in even higher proportions.

In the highly competitive global polychloroprene rubber market, Thermax

MT carbon black is
the ideal filler for achieving both cost reduction and excellent dynamic properties.